Originally Posted by
salukipv1
I know I read something that said eastern coyotes tend to have more wolf dna in them... and are more of a hybrid than western which are more pure coyote.
From what I've observed eastern are bigger/stockier, and I have seen them run together, not sure you'd call it a pack, which is a wolf quality where out west I believe they tend to be solo almost all the time.
In the arid areas out west they are often in family groups, but spread out and mostly hunt as singles, pickings are slim. The exception is in the fall, often the driest time of the year. they will pack together. I've seen 6-10 individuals together staging raids into suburban areas. You hear stories about them killing full sized Dogs. I don't know why they pack together in the Fall, best guess is their normal prey dies off from lack of water and food, they pack together to attack larger game, kind of a do or die type of thing. Or maybe the older Yotes teaching the youguns how to hunt. maybe both.
The county kept Sheep in an enclosure around a brush fire water pond behind our property, the Sheep kept the grass down. The Yotes would regularly pack together and kill the sheep. Seemed worse when the Sheep were birthing and in the Fall. They eventually put a half wild Jack Burro in with the Sheep, that sucker hated Yotes and was as good as a guard dog. I'd hear a real ruckus on occasion, the Burro braying, the Yotes yapping, a for real get down a dirty fight.
Seems to me many of the Yotes in the South West are lankier, thinner and have longer legs, same with Bobcats.